Iron Man and Captain America's forces fight against each other in the Negative Zone. Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the compound's control room try to lock the gateway back to Ryker's Island, but Dagger and the Black Panther show up to open a different portal from the Negative Zone. Spider-Man swings on the scene, but two of Tony's guys stop him. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Dublonsky tells Commander Maria Hill that Black Panther is rerouting their bridge to the Baxter Building and shuts it down. Cloak calls Dagger, saying they need a large portal to get everybody out of the Negative Zone.

Cloak manages to engulf all of the heroes in his cloak and sends them to outside the Baxter Building. Iron Man tells the police to evacuate the area so that there are no civilian casualties. Spider-Man battles his way through four of Tony's guys to kick Mister Fantastic. The Thunderbolts all gang up on Captain America until Namor shows up with his Atlantean legion to bail him out. The Thor clone leads The Champions and The Initiative against the Atlanteans. Tony and Cap square off against each other. The Vision compromises Iron Man's armor and Cap attacks him with his shield.

Hercules starts to battle against the Thor clone. Sue Richards notices Ben Grimm has joined the fight. The Taskmaster aims a gun at Sue, but Reed takes the bullet while shielding her. Sue makes short work of the villain. Back at the fight between Hercules and Thor, Hercules gains possession of the impostor's hammer and uses it to bust apart the cyborg's head, yelling "Thou art no Thor!" Cap continues using his shield to crack Iron Man's helmet. Just as Cap prepares to deliver the final blow, rescue workers tackle him.

Captain America realizes what the fighting has done to the city and takes off his mask, surrendering to the police. The Punisher picks up Cap's mask. During the next two weeks, the 50-State Initiative is launched and the Negative Zone becomes a huge success with the public. The president gives Tony Stark a new job as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony talks with Miss Sharpe on a S.H.I.E.L.D. about why the prison is called "Number 42" because it was the forty-second of a hundred ideas he had helped make after the Stamford Incident.